Isn't it amazing how fast they grow up....it seems like just yesterday.
For sure! Just blows me away to see her become a little person vs. a baby. Happens so fast.
Off topic but, if you or anyone reading, happen to hear of anyone getting rid of Ryder Cup 2016 tickets for a decent price, my DH would love to go. He "won" 3 tickets to the Monday Practice Round of the Masters 2016 (can't find anyone to go with him though, golf isn't my thing
) but wasn't lucky enough to get any for the Ryder cup which he would prefer to go to.
I would love to surprise him but all of the tickets sites are just too expensive right now. Thanks!
I have to say that I know absolutely nothing about this, but hope someone else does!
I love Betty's pies! So good. We went there for the first time in May. Good food and great pies.
Such a great place to stop for a meal (or just dessert)! It's like a North Shore tradition to me (and to many others, I'm sure). Glad you got there!
Happy Birthday to Izzy! Now I guess you have to pay for park tickets for her since she is 3? I always wonder how will they know, really? Kids don't walk around with ID!
Yes, I'm dreading the extra expense. I've read some things about that and I think the consensus is that Disney doesn't check IDs or anything, but they might ask the kid how old they are (and Izzy would definitely yell "THREE!"). It's more of an ethical dilemma than anything. I had looked into it a bit when we thought we might be in
Disneyland so shortly after her turning three, but I concluded I'd buy her a ticket (despite the $300 price tag!
) It is a bit unfair, though, as some 2-year-olds are tall enough to ride "big rides" and don't need to pay, but she's short enough at 3 that she can't ride those things, but has to pay as much as the kids who can ride.
Seems like there should be a height component, but I'm sure that could get complicated.
Happy Anniversary! Ours is coming up too (11/1!) - We're going to see a Broadway show (Book of Mormon) on the actual day and then a few days later we're headed to Hawaii (Oahu) for a week! Where will you be headed in January?
Happy almost anniversary to you too! Sounds like great anniversary plans! We're going to Oahu in January - 5 nights on the North Shore (found a Turtle Bay area condo on airbnb), then 4 nights at Aulani (rented DVC again). Can't wait! By the way, if you don't already know this, I have a still-slowly-in-progress TR for our prior Aulani trip in November of 2014, so same time of year you're going to Oahu - if you wanted to check it out (link in my signature).
Duluth looks really fun ! I love locations by the water. That salami basket looks like something I'd totally devour! I love salami, bread, cheese, butter, olives, basically everything you had!
That salami basket was SO good. Better than it looks in the picture. The whole time, between bites, we were both raving about how amazing it was.
Yum, the pies sound amazing too. I like pie more than cake!
I'm with you on that! I'm not a big cake person, really. I prefer unique cakes - standard white or chocolate or whatever doesn't interest me much. But I like most pies. Yum, yum!
Much better!
And providing you with stellar service, too!
Naturally.
I just saw I missed your update regarding Izzy's birthday and your 10 year anniversary! Glad to hear you had a nice night away and were able to plan it out last minute. What a fun weekend! Looks like you chose some beautiful places to spend the two days, though it sure looked cold lol! I still haven't gotten used to the idea of winter!
Yeah, I'm glad we decided to do the last-minute getaway. It was really nice and great scenery. A little chilly with the wind off the lake, but unfortunately nothing compared to what I know is coming. Ugh, winter.
Every year I wonder why I still live here. At least we have Hawaii and California to look forward to in January and February - much warmer than the worst part of winter here.
Happy Birthday to Izzy and Happy Anniversary to you and Dug!
Always nice to get little getaway/break and sounds like you had a nice time ... Plus pie!
Thanks so much! It was really nice to get away and have a mini vacation - and pie!
Great real-time update! DH and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary this past August
Wow, congratulations to you too! Good year for a 10-year anniversary! And thanks!
Izzy's cake is absolutely adorable...almost too pretty to eat....wow! Very talented pastry chef!
I just love seeing what our "cake lady" creates. When we were getting ready to cut the cake, Izzy was asked what part she wanted and she picked Doc's hair.
So, I guess she wasn't worried about it being too pretty to eat.
So frustrating. I think these sorts of things make me so crazy because I'm more introverted and just like to do my transaction completed and move along. My mom is the opposite....she'd look at someones CM tag and talk for an hour. "Oh, you're from Memphis? I've been there! What kind of BBQ do you like? What's your dog's name?"
Wow, I think you and I have that in common, down to the moms. I am a major introvert (though I have impressive extrovert-like skills from working in sales for years - I can give talks to large groups without a problem, etc.) But I am happiest when I can have quiet time, email instead of call, etc. That's why I switched career fields to accounting.
BUT, my mom is a huge talker. I remember times that she'd get a call from a wrong number and proceed to talk to them for 30 minutes.
Ugh, the worst. Did she think that everyone could read her mind and tell what was happening?
I know, it was so strange that she didn't even acknowledge the rest of us until we piped up.
She seemed nice enough, just kind-of oblivious, I guess.
Maple will love this. Right now she just says "Hat? hat. Hat? hat." and then puts all manner of things on her head, like plates and socks and grass.
Love it! I remember when Izzy would put her bowls of food on her head, etc.
Who knows.
Good one to try and teach girlfriend before we go. Currently she's bringing it to daycare for comfort and I've been throwing it in the washing machine as soon as she gets home.
Yeah, it was something I didn't intend to teach that day, as she'd never tried to carry her blanket around outside before. But she learned quickly, as she didn't want it to get dirty.
Awww! So cliche, but time really does fly! It's fun to watch her grow up, though!
Such a cute cake!!! Love it!
Everyone always says how quickly kids grow up, but they are right. Before you know it, Maple will be running around like a big girl, talking your ear off, etc. Thanks, the cake was pretty fun!
Cute! I love Duluth. We had some close family friends that lived there and ran the TV station for years. I went up there for my 18th birthday and went to the casino in WI. I also overindulged on some cranberry vodkas for the first time. Ooops! Must have been the fresh air!
Our friends used to watch the freighters and the bears from their deck. Ha. So cold, though! Happy Anniversary!
Thanks! Wow, fun Duluth area memories! How crazy to be able to watch bears from their deck!
Ha! After we took our first vacation without our dog (a cruise to
Ensenada, Mexico on a very crummy Carnival ship. I vowed I would never cruise again!), whom we treated like our child, we slept the ENTIRE time. It was amazing. I still haven't left Maple overnight, even in town!
It was a long time before we left Izzy overnight. But now we leave her with grandparents every so often when we need to be out late (we're always in town, though). Actually, we're doing that tomorrow night so that we can go see a movie that one of my childhood friends directed - it's in the Twin Cities Film Festival. Can't take Izzy and we'll get home late, so grandparent sleepover it is!
Umm, amazing! I wish that they offered lunches like this everywhere all the time. It's exactly what I want!
I agree - it was SO good! We couldn't stop talking about how good it was, as we were eating it.
Beautiful! I just love Lake Superior!!
Me too!
Yum! Saw this place on Andrew Zimmern's show -- I didn't realize that he was from MN. He had sauerkraut pie... which is pretty bizarre! It's on our list when we get up there!
Wow, I haven't seen that on their flavor list.
I also didn't know it had been on his show (but I also don't watch his show
). I definitely recommend stopping there if you are in the area, though.
Oh, and I'm not going to quote it, but so glad everything worked out with your job. On our last trip, I got a call from my boss that I needed to put my name in the hat to replace her (after I had already declined to take it). I was forced to think about it for almost our entire trip, and it was such a drain. Oh, and I was 5 1/2 months pregnant, so that made me a little more anxious about everything (I ended up quitting and we moved to Wisconsin two months after Maple was born, so whoops!).
But it's never fun to have those things crop up on vacation! Though, I kind of wonder if it makes it easier to bear... since you're in paradise and can jump on a roller coaster!
Yeah, it's kind-of a mixed bag - it brings down the vacation, but you are still doing much more fun things than you would be at home. But there was a lot of stress I was trying to push away, just not knowing a lot of things and feeling like I was missing too much (lots of meetings to inform everyone of stuff, etc.)
Yep would have done the same thing!
I'm so glad I did too! It definitely helped to keep my worries in check.
That's so nerve wracking though, not knowing fully what is happening, even if you do have some tidbits of info. I hate that!
Exactly! I appreciated what I was able to find out, but it was so stressful to have so many unknowns.
This is me! If something gets me super anxious or worried, it's hard for me to put it on the back burner. But glad that everything turned out to be okay (or at least somewhat okay!) in the end.
Yeah, I kept reminding myself that this was a long-anticipated trip and I had to put it out of my mind, but it kept creeping back in.
We can only hope!
I would so not be opposed to DS being a CM. More trips?! Uh, yes please! You know. To visit my son who'll i'll miss dearly
Yep, I'm on board with that. Maybe they can work together.
We can have DIS-meets while visiting them.
Really though, I bet it was probably good for you to have a few minutes of alone time after that call.
Yeah, I think it was. Dug was also great to talk to and bounce thoughts off of, though, so that helped too.
I'm so mean, sneaking pictures of him nodding off and posting them on the internet.
I do, I do!
You do not know of which you speak.
That is NOT an exciting food stand at all.
Very, very cute, I bet she loved it!
Thanks, she liked it, once she got over the disappointment of it not being the giant one she'd seen a picture of.
Aw that's amazing
Thanks! It was really cool to have us all together and on my mom's birthday to boot!
Happy Anniversary!
And how cool is that that you share it with WDW
I love that we share the date. Though, it makes me think we should celebrate at WDW.
Gorgeous! And it looks cold! Jealous. Glad you had such a fun trip!
Haha, you should move here - we can wear sweaters nearly year-round!
Izzy!!!!!
I really should have stopped eating, but I HAD to finish. I thought pie was going to start coming out of my ears for the next hour. But it was good. 
So, good for you!
And it was really only a couple minutes on our way to...well, nowhere urgent.
DS is a big fan. In fact, we were reading a Star Wars book the other day that focused on R2D2 and C3PO and at first he was telling me that R2D2 was Chomper 
But I don't think it was there? 
But, yeah, we weren't in a giant rush or anything. Just impatient. 
and Pooh 
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